So, well into the second week of this four week plan and for the most part it's gone as scheduled. I notice myself collecting a different sort of recipe now and I find myself thinking of dinner four weeks from today when before I was challenged to figure out what was for dinner tonight.Here are the top ten takeaways from our first two weeks:(1) Keep your recipes in one location online and one offline (I have them pinned on Pinterest and printed out in a paper clipped stack). I can refer to the pinned recipes when at the store and make notes on the printed out ones. <---this is important for fine tuning and adapting to your family's palette.(2) Buy your meat in "bulk." I bought six pounds of ground beef when it was on sale, I bought the nine million chicken breasts packet at Costco and I even stocked up on pork loins. Keep that week's portions in the fridge, freeze the rest divied up in single meal portions. (3) Double up recipes that will freeze well. You will be glad to have these staples in your freezer on days when you lack inspiration or time to cook.(4) Set a few easy, night specific dinner traditions. We do taco/burrito bar every Tuesday, Breakfast for Dinner every other Wednesday and pizza every Thursday. Also, schedule one night a week or every ten days for eating up the leftovers of the past few days. This is especially good on days when everyone will be eating at a different time or when you've over cooked for a few days.(5)When your kids complain (and they will, they are kids) about what's for dinner turn it into a teachable moment. Have them look through cookbooks or over your monthly dinner plan and let them pick out what dinner will be one night. My four year old was the inspiration for taco/burrito Tuesdays.(6) Make a pantry staples list so you don't have to run to the store for an extra can of Rotel or corn muffin mix. Or at least you won't have to run to the store for onsies-twosies quite so often.(7) Do one extra food prep activity each week. Last week I browned three pounds of hamburger with italian seasoning and garlic salt, I froze that in three separate one pound bags. Now I have handy read to defrost meat for Taco Tuesdays, last minute Sloppy Joes or to toss into a Sheperds Pie. This weekend I will make a triple batch of muffins, freezing most of them so I have them to dole out on busy school mornings.(8) Find a few food blogs, recipe sites or Pinterest boards that really resonate with you and visit those once a month or more to get new ideas.(9) Pick five or six of your families favorite dinners and add them to your rotation regularly, it's okay to repeat every couple weeks if it's something you know they will all eat.(10) Stick to the plan, be flexible but if you stick to it at least 5 nights of the week you will soon grow to appreciate how much easier it is to already know what is for dinner when you wake up in the morning. If the crockpot needs prepping you can do that before you head out the door or if it's a casserole - like a lasagna - prep it in the morning, stick it in the fridge, bake it when you walk in the door after school/work. Really, this takes so much pressure off of you, you will be very glad you did it.